Stay the Course
by jss4683
Summary: AU in which Bellamy meets Clarke while driving for Uber. Eventual M
1. Chapter 1

The first time Bellamy sees her, Clarke Griffin is standing on the sidewalk outside of her mother's 1.5 million dollar Hoboken condo, huddled under a giant fur lined hooded jacket, eating a bagel in the pouring rain.

At the time, Bellamy thinks that it's one of the strangest things that he had ever seen. The girl didn't even have an umbrella, and it was damn near freezing; she was drenched. But there she was, seemingly oblivious, tearing small bite-sized pieces off of her bagel while staring at her shoes.

Now that he knows Clarke, he also thinks it is one of the saddest things that he has ever seen.

"Hey!" He calls out through the passenger side window, loud enough to be heard over the pounding rain and the swish of the windshield wipers. "Are you Clarke Griffin?"

Her head pops up, and just for a moment, before her walls shoot up and her expression is schooled into one of friendly surprise, he sees the fear and the sadness, the hollowness in her eyes.

"Yeah," she shouts back, already moving toward his car. "Bellamy, I take it? With Uber?"

Bellamy has always believed that rain memories remain so much more vivid. Maybe it's the superabundance of sensation-the sounds and the feeling of being wet and cold and somehow more alive. But mostly, he thinks that it's because of the color. Every color is so much more saturated, so vivid. It sticks with him.

For this reason, he will never forget the way that Clarke looked standing out in the rain, eating that damn bagel. The slickness of her black coat, and the way that her bright blonde hair stuck out of the hood and grew darker where the rain had wet it.

He will always remember her laugh, a little bit too forced, too high and weak, as she shimmied her way out of the drenched jacket in his back seat. Of how she then suck her small, cold hand in between the seats to shake hello.

As he drove to the airport, Bellamy snuck quick glances of her in the rearview mirror. Every time he chanced a glimpse, he found her staring out of the rain smudged window, watching the cars and almost bare trees fly by. He wondered what she was thinking about.

If it wouldn't have been entirely inappropriate, and if she hadn't looked so sad, he might have asked her. Bellamy was a man of questions, after all, and while he sometimes liked to linger in the unexplained, he also liked eventual conclusions, answers.

But she was his fare, so he kept his mouth shut-didn't want to chance a bad rating. He needed the side job with Uber, needed the extra money it provided. Anything to send to Octavia, who had just started her freshman year of college.

Bellamy had held firm on his rule: no working Freshman year. He wanted his sister to concentrate on her studies, and honestly, he also wanted to give her the opportunity to enjoy being a kid for once in her life.

After their mom died, Octavia and Bellamy both had to work part-time jobs during high school in order to get by. This was O's last chance to relax a little, act her age. She had a lifetime of hard work ahead of her.

Bellamy had never gotten that opportunity. At five years his sister's senior, he worked through high school, college, and now grad school. His sister, his responsibility.

Drawn from his thoughts by Clarke's cough, he stole another glance at her in the mirror. She was reading something on her phone now, her face scrunched up in aggravation, bottom lip stuck out just a little.

Bellamy smiled to himself. She was cute, and because he knew he'd probably never see her again, he let himself look just a little bit longer.


	2. Chapter 2

**2 Years Later**

Octavia Blake was many things; determined, stubborn, smart as hell, loyal... She was not a quitter. Or a failure. Which is why, when Bellamy first receives his sister's text-the one meant to inform him of her intention to "take a break" from school in order to work full-time for her internship supervisor, Indra- Bellamy thinks that it must be a joke.

He stares at his phone for several seconds. Then the anger comes.

The train into the city is busy, but Bellamy understands why several people choose to stand instead of sitting next to him. He must look, at the very least, completely murderous. His skin feels too tight, blotchy and red, and his leg bounces restlessly, nearly vibrating. Every single disturbance and annoyance heightens his anger until he feels frenzied and uncontrolled.

He was going to kill Octavia.

How could she even consider leaving school? After all that they went through to make sure that she made it to college. After all of the sacrifices that they made, that _he_ made _for_ her. She was just going to throw it all away?

Bellamy doesn't bother ringing when he gets to his sister's apartment. He can hear her laughing through the door, and this somehow makes him feel even more enraged. The moment he barges through the door and finds her on the couch, though, Octavia's laughter dies in her throat.

His sister doesn't scare easily, so that edge of fear in her eyes makes Bellamy think that he must look just about as enraged as he felt.

"A text?" He's shouting already without really making the conscious choice to do so. "I hope this is a fucking joke, O. I really do. Are you an _idiot_?"

It only takes a moment for Octavia's surprise to harden into resolve. Bellamy could almost picture her slipping into her armor, preparing to do battle.

"Thanks for knocking, asshole." Despite Bellamy's raised voice, edging the line between control and simply losing it, Octavia remains infuriatingly calm. This has always been her way-quiet but just as deadly effective. "And you could have called if you are just planning on yelling about it. It would have saved you the trip."

Bellamy doesn't quite literally put his foot down, but the Dad voice is taking over, so the effect is the same. "You are not, under any circumstances, leaving school."

Octavia had the nerve to snort and roll her eyes. "Yeah, thanks for the unsolicited opinion, Bell. she rounded the couch so that they stood eye to eye, "But let me remind you, I'm a grown ass woman. I can make my own choices now."

It was Bellamy's turn to snort. "Oh, I see. Well tell me, oh Wise One, what's your big plan then, huh? What happens if Indra changes her mind, or leaves, or retires? What then?"

Octavia tried to cut in, but Bellamy was already plowing forward.

" I'll tell you what happens then- you're out on your ass. Unqualified, unable to advance, because you didn't just finish your fucking degree when you had the chance. You have a full scholarship, Octavia. Let me remind you that it the only way that we can afford for you to go to college." He was stabbing a finger toward her and full-on ranting now. "And you want to turn your back and quit because one woman, at your _very first internship_ , might I add, tells you that she's willing to take you on full-time."

Octavia had crossed her arms, eyes narrowed, and tapped her foot impatiently while she waited for her brother's tirade to end.

"Are you done?" She asked when he finally took a much needed breath. "First of all, I never said that I was quitting school. That was your own stupid conclusion." Bellamy tried to interject, but Octavia held up a finger to silence him. "What I _said_ is that I'm taking time off, six months to be specific, because I've been fortunate enough to be offered some real-world experience.

"Indra isn't leading me astray, you jackass. She's a great mentor, and she wants to make sure that I really love the job before I really commit myself to the idea of law school."

Bellamy already felt some of the fight leaving his body, but he was nowhere near sold on the idea of Octavia taking time off from school. "And what if you don't go back, O? What if you lose momentum?"

Octavia took a step closer and put a hand on his still crossed arms. "I'm going to go back, you idiot," she said mildly with a quirk of her lips. "I'll go back in six months either knowing that discrimination law is something that I'm really passionate about, or that I need to change direction. But I _will_ go back, Bell."

Bellamy knew that he was losing. "What about your scholarship?"

"This wasn't something that I decided on a whim, Bell. I talked to my financial advisor, and I already had an appointment with the Dean. They are willing to let me take a leave of absence for the Spring semester. It's already done. My scholarship is fine."

Bellamy felt himself deflate. "You should have talked to me about this, O."

Octavia laughed, "Yeah because you handled the idea with such an open mind and level head." She looked up at her brother. "You trust me, right?"

"Of course I do," Bellamy said without hesitation. He wanted to be angry, but Octavia's plan was already starting to make sense. It was a good plan, a well thought out plan, he admitted grudgingly.

"Are we cool?" Octavia asked.

Bellamy pulled her under his arm and kissed the top of her stupid, grown up head. "Yeah. We're cool."

Octavia wiggled free from his grasp, smoothing down her now rumpled hair, which Bellamy then noticed had been braided pretty elaborately. "Hey, watch the hair!" she grouched.

"Yeah, I'll have to kill you," came the voice of the girl that was leaning in the entryway into the kitchen. "That took me an hour."

Bellamy startled, realizing for the first time that he and O weren't alone. His gaze shot over to take in the sight of none other than Clarke Griffin herself, looking quite amused, snacking on some chips while leaning on the wall, having taken in the whole damn show.


End file.
